Pasta with Broccoli Rabe, Butternut, and Sausage

I saw broccoli rabe at Whole Foods yesterday when I ran in for a quick trip and I was excited to see it since it is rare around here. It was floppy looking, but I decided to try to find a good bunch anyway.  I added it to the weeks menu in my head for the next day's shopping trip (worrying that it wouldn't be there when I went back today).  Of course, I went today and it was nowhere to be seen.  So, I asked and luckily they had some in the back... and it was beautiful!



I found this recipe on Food TV, but of course I had to make some adjustments to make it vegan.



Here is the modified version:

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe, Butternut, and Sausage
Ingredients

* 2 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice
* Extra-virgin olive oil
* Kosher salt
* pepper
* 1/2 bunch broccoli rabe, tough lower stems removed, cut into thirds
* 1 Apple Sage Field Roast Vegan Sausage, cut into 1/2-inch dice
* Pinch crushed red pepper
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 2 cups pasta (I used wacky mac - see pic below)
* 1/2 cup vegan Parmesan (I used Parmezano Sprinkles from the Uncheese Cookbook)
* 1/4 cup green pumpkin seeds, toasted

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Toss the pumpkin with olive oil salt and pepper and place in a single layer on a sheet tray and bake in the oven until soft, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and reserve.

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Set up a bowl of well-salted ice water.

Drop the broccoli rabe into the pot of boiling water, swirl it around, remove from the water, and immediately plunge into the salty ice water. Reserve the boiling water to cook the pasta in. Remove the broccoli rabe from the ice water, squeeze out excess water, and reserve.

Get 3/4 cup of the broccoli rabe water for use below before boiling pasta.

Add the pasta to the reserved boiling broccoli rabe water and cook until the pasta is al dente. Before draining the pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water (yep, you'll need a second measuring cup). Drain, rinse, and set aside.

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and add the vegan sausage, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Bring the pan to a medium heat and cook the sausage until browned. When the sausage is browned add the roasted squash and 3/4 cup of the broccoli rabe cooking water. Simmer until the water reduces by half.

Add the pasta to the pan with the sausage and squash. Add the broccoli rabe and about a 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Cook until the water has evaporated and the sauce clings to the pasta. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the vegan parmesan. Toss or stir vigorously.

Divide the pasta between 2 serving dishes, sprinkle with a little more grated parm, and top with toasted green pumpkin seeds.

Here is a pic of the butternut before baking because it is so pretty:



And a pic of the pasta because it's wacky:

Waffles!

I love waffles. I recently got a new waffle maker (my old one made mini waffles) and there is nothing better than waffles and coffee on a Saturday morning. Oh wait, waffles, coffee, and vegan sausage is better. Everything goes better with vegan sausage.



This waffle recipe is from Vegan Brunch. Modifications: I used 1.25 Tbsp agave nectar instead of malted barley syrup, and I added 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Some Quick Dinners

Sometimes when I download the camera I find that I've taken pics of food that I had forgotten about. That was the case today. These are two quick meals that are old standbys.

Vegan Pizza
On this night we made two different pizzas. One was a pepper, onion, pepperoni (Yves), tomato sauce pizza with Follow Your Heart Mozzarella and the other is a butternut squash and walnut pizza with no sauce (just oilive oil and garlic), topped with Follow Your Heart Mozzarella. The butternut squash was actually leftover filling from the manicotti we made a while back. I found it in the freezer labeled "good for pizza".




Sausage Dogs with Peppers and Onions & Tots
This is a typical summer meal for us but we made it in the middle of winter. We made this on an unusual night when it got up over 60 degrees here (a couple of weeks ago). We got excited that the grill wasn't covered in snow. The sausage is a Field Roast sausage. We sauteed onions and peppers in olive oil till soft and browned and then added a splash of soy sauce. And how could we pass up tater tots!

Please stop with the Zucchini already Stuffed Zucchini

I don't hate zucchini. I usually look forward to the first zucchini in the spring. But after I've had that one or two of the first zucchini's of the season, I'm pretty much done with zucchini for the year. So, now it is November and I've had 20 weeks of CSA zucchini. I can't make any more zucchini bread or zucchini muffins and even my co-workers have had enough of my extra zucchini. How is my CSA still putting zucchini in my box? It's snowing outside for pete's sake. Anyway, this week I got 8 small zucchini's. We used 2 in a stir fry which left 6.

I really really did not want to cook this zucchini, but I stuffed them and they came out amazingly well. I have a theory that putting Field Roast sausage into anything makes it taste great. I got the idea when I saw Sheree at Life on the Vegan Highway post about her stuffed zucchini boats. She didn't post a recipe so I made this one up. I did follow her idea to use field roast and brown rice. I used french fried onions as a topping because I had them, but vegan parm would work well here too. We did actually like the crunch of the french fried onions on top.

Here is my version of stuffed zucchini boats. They'll take the zucchini hate right out of you.

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 sm onion, diced
1 sm bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
2-4 Tbsp white wine
2-3 cups spinach, destemmed, rinsed well, and roughly chopped
2 field roast italian sausages, crumbled
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2-3 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp water
6 small-med zucchini (prep below)
salt
1/2 c french fried onions in a can, or vegan parm
Preheat oven to 375. Oil a 9x13 casserole dish.

Make the Filling:
In a non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, thyme, oregano, and pepper. Cook for about a minute. Deglaze with white wine. Add the spinach and sausage to the pan and a little water if the spinach is pretty dry. Cover and cook for about a minute until the spinach is wilted. Add the soy sauce, tomato paste, and brown rice. Stir to combine. Add about 2 Tbsp water to loosen up the tomato paste and make a sauce. Remove from heat and set aside.

Prepare the boats:
Slice the ends off of the zucchinis. Slice in half lengthwise. Use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds and make room for filling. Place them on a plate, sprinkle very lightly with salt, and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. You may need to do this in a couple of batches. They should now have a slight give to them. Place them in the casserole.

Fill the boats:
Fill each zucchini half with as much filling as will go in them. Any remaining filling can just go into the dish around the zucchini. Top with crushed french fried onions or vegan parm.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, uncovered.

This filling & technique would also work really well with stuffed bell peppers.

A new twist on the old pot pie - White Bean, Butternut, "Sausage" & Sage Pot Pie

This recipe has been developing in my head for a few weeks and I finally got around to making it Sunday night. It is full of Fall stuff. The crust is from Candle Cafe's cookbook. I love it's hearty wheat and herbiness and really can't improve on the Candle Cafe version. We really really really liked this and it seemed to get even better as leftovers.

White Bean, Butternut, Sausage & Sage Pot Pie

Ingredients:
2 16 oz cans white beans (cannallini or northern)
1 butternut squash
2 Field Roast Apple Sage Sausages (or italian flavor), chopped into 1/2 in pieces **
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp chopped sage
1 bunch spinach
1/4 cup water
2 cups soy milk, warmed for a minute in the microwave
1 Tbsp margarine
1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
lots of pepper

Crust Ingredients:
1 tsp fresh thyme*
1 tsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp rosemary, minced
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup-ish water

Directions:
Prepare the Butternut (this can be done ahead of time):
Preheat oven to 425 F. Peel with a vegetable peeler, seed, and dice into 1/2 inch cubes. Place on one or two baking sheets lined with parchment or nonstick foil. Pour enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for about 45-50 minutes (stirring every 20 minutes and rotating pans if using 2 pans) until tender. Set aside. Note that you will only use about 2 cups of the butternut. Reserve the rest for a side dish for another meal.

Make the filling:
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium with 1 tbsp olive oil. When hot, add the vegan sausage and cook for a minute or so until it starts to brown. Add the sage and cook for a minute. Add the spinach and some water to steam it. Cover with a lid for 1 minute. Stir and add 2 cups of the squash and white beans. Stir to combine and set aside.

Make the sauce (a typical bechemel):
Heat margarine and 1 Tbsp olive oil in a saucier or similar round bottom pot over medium heat. When melted, add 3 Tbsp flour. If it looks too dry, add another tablespoon of olive oil (I eyeballed this part). Slowly add the warmed soy milk while stirring constantly with a wisk. Stir until it thickens. Add salt and pepper.

Add the sauce to the vegetables. Set aside.

Make the crust:
Put Whole wheat pastry flour, all purpose flour and herbs and a pinch of kosher salt into a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the oil and pulse a few times to combine. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water and pulse to combine. You want to add enough water so that the dough sticks together.

Divide the dough in half and roll out the first half of the dough until it will cover the pie plate. Place it in the pie plate and trim the excess. Pour the filling into the pie plate. Roll out the other half of the dough and place it over the top of the pie. Roll the bottom edge over the top edge and pinch together. Cut for or five slits in the top with a serrated knife.

Cook for 30-40 minutes at 350 till lightly browned. Cool for 10 minutes and then serve.

* If your store sells an herb mix called Poultry Mix (poorly named, I know), it will contain a mix of most of the herbs you need and will cost a whole lot less than buying the herbs separately. It usually contains sage, rosemary, and thyme. Don't substitute dried herbs in this.

** Don't bother replacing this with any other kind of sausage. The Field Roast really made this dish.

Here is a picture of the filling before I added the bechemel sauce:



And a picture of the pot pie before I cut into it:

The flecks you see in the crust are fresh herbs.

This was the perfect dinner to eat after hanging around the top of Snowbird in on Sunday morning (sad that they wouldn't let me snowboard down):

Mexican Hash on Tortillas

I looked in the fridge and pantry and realized that I was overrun by CSA potatoes, peppers, onions, and corn. I orginally thought I'd make a potato hash. Then right before I started cooking I started adding things in my head like black beans, chili powder, guacamole, and torillas. And then, we had mexican... hash. heh. Anyway it is an easy to make meal that you can modify to fit whatever you have on hand. You can use zucchini instead of corn or throw in cilantro at the end if you have it.

Ok. This isn't the prettiest picture on the planet, but it was pretty tasty!

Mexican Hash

1.25 lb baby red potatoes, 1/4 in dice
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 large red onion, diced
2+ Tbsp olive oil
1 jalepeno, seeded, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 ears of corns, kernels cut off the cob
1 14oz can black beans, drained, rinsed
2 tofurkey italian sausages, chopped into 1/2 in dice (soyrizo would work here too)
1 bunch spinach, destemmed and rinsed well
1.5 tsp cumin
1.5 tsp mexican oregano
1.5 tsp ancho chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp lime juice
12 flour tortillas
guacamole
salsa


In a non-stick skillet, heat 1 Tbsp oiive oil over med-high heat and then cook the sausage until it starts to brown. Remove it from the pan and set aside.

Heat another 1 Tbsp olive oil in the same skillet, and add potatoes, bell pepper, and onion. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are nearly done. If they start to stick, add some water or olive oil. If the potatoes aren't cooking fast enough, cover with a lid for about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, jalepeno, and corn. Cook for a minute or two. Add the spices and salt. Cook for a minute. Add the sausage back in, add the black beans, and add the spinach. Add about 1/4 cup water and the lime juice and cover the skillet with a lid to let the spinach cook. Cook for a minute or two until the spinach is wilted.

Serve with tortillas, guacamole, salsa, and chips!

Serves 4-6.

Squashage Pasta

I'd heard how good the Field Roast vegan sausages were and I'd been dying to try them. Unfortunately the Whole Foods in Framingham doesn't carry them. I stopped at the Whole Foods in Cambridge last week and grabbbed some Italian style Field Roast Sausages while I was there. Once I got them, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with them. Last night after a mid-day BVA meeting (around 4:30), I didn't know what we were having for dinner and I still needed to go to the grocery but there wasn't much time left in the day. So, in the car on the way back from Boston, I concocted this recipe for Squash-age Pasta in my head for a quick cooking dinner later in the evening. The Field Roast sausages ARE the best vegan sausages I've had. They were yummy!



Squashage Pasta
Serves 5

1 med sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded, diced into 1/2 in cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 pinch crushed red pepper
3 Tbsp (or more) pine nuts
1 tsp dried rubbed sage
2 Field Roast vegan sausages, quartered lengthwise and then sliced (or other brand of vegan sausages ~ 6 oz).
1 onion, diced
2 tbsp+ white wine or mirin
5 oz baby spinach
16 oz whole wheat penne

Preheat oven to 385. Place the butternut squash on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick foil. Add enough olive oil to generously coat the squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir the squash and add the garlic, pinenuts, sage, and crushed red pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, stir and then cook for another 15 minutes (total time of 40 minutes). Pine nuts and garlic should lightly brown. If they are cooking too fast, push the squash and other ingedients together in one end of the cookie sheet to protect the squash and pine nuts with the moisture from the squash.

Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions.

Meanwhile (in the last 5 minutes or so of the squash cooking in the oven), in a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the onion and cook till lightly browned. Add the vegan sausage and cook for about a minute till heated through. Add a couple of tablespoons of white wine to deglaze. Then add the spinach, cover and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir and then cook for another 15 seconds. You want the spinach to just wilt. Add the squash mixture and stir to combine. Here is how it looks in the skillet at this point:



Drain the pasta and add it back to the pot. Add the squash/sausage/spinach mixture to the pasta and toss to combine.

Brunswick Stew

I grew up in Atlanta and had my share of bbq and brunwick stew before moving North and going vegan. Needless to say, I was intrigued by this month's VegNews magazine which had a recipe for Southern Vegetarian Brunswick Stew and Cornbread. I thought this might be a good stew but had no notions that this would actually taste like the stew that I grew up eating. My husband Mike did not either and was a little afraid of my dinner plans. After we started eating it, we were shocked to find it did actually taste like brunswick stew. SHOCKED. It was really good.



The recipe is from Robin Robertson:

Vegetarian Brunswick Stew

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 12 oz package vegetarian sausage links, cut into 1/2-inch pieces *
1 sweet yellow onion, finely chopped
2 large white potatoes, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger **
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (16-ounce) package frozen succotash
3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (12-ounce) package frozen vegetarian burger crumbles ***
1/2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the "sausage" links and cook until browned, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the sausage from the pot and set aside.

2. Reheat the oil in the saucepan and add the onion, potato, garlic, and ginger. Add 1/4 cup of the stock or water, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid, add the remaining stock and stir in the tomatoes, succotash, tamari, mustard, sugar, allspice, Tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. During the last 10 minutes of cooking time, add the reserved “sausage,” the vegetarian burger crumbles, and the Liquid Smoke.

Serves 4 to 6

* We used only 6 oz lite life vegan sausage links. Next time we might try sausage crumbles instead, maybe lite life in the tube.
** Ginger People jarred prepared ginger works fine here.
*** Morningstar frozen burger crumbles

We served this with some vegan southern cornbread (modified from the article in veg news by Robin Robertson) cooked in an iron skillet.

Cornbread

1-2 Tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup soymilk
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1/4 cup canola oil

Place an 8" cast iron skillet in the oven with 1-2 Tbsp canola oil in the skillet. Place in oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, mix the soy milk, maple syrup, oil, and corn. Add to the dry mixture and stir until just mixed. Pour into the hot skillet, and spread it if necessary. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned on top. Turn cornbread out of skillet and onto a plate (it will be upside down). Cut into wedges.